Biography
Kirk has over 35 years of experience in higher education IT leadership with a focus on organizational development, strategic planning, governance, project management, employee engagement, administrative and research computing, and information security. He has successfully led IT organizations at public research institutions and a community college. At every step in his career, he has made strategic improvements to align IT operations with institutional priorities while improving services. He has successfully led changes in service delivery, organizational structure, and leadership to meet increased service needs while streamlining operations and budgets.
Kirk is currently a Vice President at Vantage Technology Consulting Group and was previously the Vice President and CIO at Portland State University where he led a nationally recognized IT organization, provided university-wide leadership, and co-chaired a successful Students First effort. His passion to see employees and students thrive drives much of his work.
Kirk is engaged professionally at a national level in organizations like Educause where he provides thought-leadership, teaches leadership development, writes articles, and speaks often about information technology. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Information Systems and a Master of Science in Management Information Systems.
EDUCAUSE Publications
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In September 2018 EDUCAUSE and Jisc convened a new working group of ten UK and U.S. IT leaders and challenged them to explore the question “How do we shape the future higher education IT workforce?”
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Creating a culture of caring can result in staff who will be more engaged, more committed, and more productive, who will encourage others, and who will live longer lives.
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As most higher education institutions continue to experience rising costs, reductions in funding from nontuition sources, and growing pressure to curtail tuition increases, the need to know and manage the total cost of IT across campus has never been greater.